Monday, June 12, 2006

Hey Kid fans,As promised its time to delve into the realm of the mysterious world of correct wagering. I know what your thinking"Here we go with sales pitch." But I assure you it is nothing of the sort, alas I have nothing to sale to you. Anyone who thinks they can punch some numbers into a computer and spit out $20 winners on end is fooling you and themselves. What I offer is a chance to discuss, what does and doesn't work when applied to betting the horses. In reality I have no secret system or angle that can give you an advantage. What I do is make handicapping decisions based on a well of information that I've acquired through watching and wagering on many many races.What does that mean exactly? It means that I know what does and does not win horse races. Certainly you could say "A horse does." But what kind of horse. How does the horse look on form? How does the horse look physically on the track? Have you seen this horse run before? Did he run well? And on and on.

Lesson #1 Be Realistic!

Do you know how many handicappers I know that have become rich from betting the races? None, Zip, Zero...No one. I've never even heard of one that has. Perhaps there's a little old lady in Michigan that struck it rich on a SoCal pick 6 one time or another, but really even at that its like winning the lottery, its not going to happen to me and its not going to happen to you.

Sure there's people out there like Beyer and Crist who have made fortune's handicapping, but not from winning wagers. They've been successful because they made handicapping resources available and taught other's how to be successful and if not successful...Competent. So once you get it out of your head that your going to go to the races a pauper and come out a prince, your ready to start learning why and how to correctly handicap horse races.

So why do it then? Well that's different for a lot of individuals, but for me it's because I find handicapping a gentleman's thing to do. Its cerebral and challenging. It has huge swings in excitement and disappointment. It provides a way for me to prove myself against others trying to do the same. And sometimes it provides a little cushion to my income. It may be the same for you or perhaps there is another strong reason for you to do it. But most of all it must stay fun, it can't be job. I wouldn't recommend doing it as a profession. I've done it and yes I did make a living at it, but for someone like me who did not come to racing because of the gambling, but gambling because of the horses, it became less and less appealing to do it 24/7.

So once you've decided why to handicap horse races, how do you go about basing that desire in reality? For starters, choose a race circuit and stick with it. It may be your local track or state, or maybe you choose to follow a circuit over television or through the internet. But I can't stress enough how important it is to know your track(s), the horses, jockeys, and trainers, like you know your best friend. And judge their abilities according to your own methods.